1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to reading and teaching methods, and more particularly to a method of teaching reading which changes the ambiguous terms xe2x80x9clongxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cshortxe2x80x9d vowels to a particular associative vowel imagery set to symbolize the strong and weak vowel sounds, respectively, thus allowing the reader to formulate a visual and cognitive understanding of the written words.
2. Description of the Background
Reading and literacy are essential elements of a child""s education. However, learning to read English is a difficult hurdle to overcome. This is due, in part, to the many nuances in the English written word. Some children, as well as many adults, have an additional difficulty learning to read, either because of learning disabilities, such as dyslexia, or short attention spans, or simply lack of interest. Thus, many reading teaching methods have been developed which employ different techniques to achieve the same goal of successfully teaching a student to read. These methods include the simple techniques to the more complex that use a number of props and/or outside stimuli to aid in the teaching process.
Concepts associated with reading teaching methods incorporating interpretation of vowel sounds, the use of symbols or other indicators to represent vowel sounds, and/or word framing techniques are well-known in the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,490,118 to Stewart, U.S. Pat. No. 6,077,080 to Rai, U.S. Pat. No. 5,197,883 to Johnston, Li""s U.S. patent application Ser. No. 2002/0094511, xe2x80x9cWord Stress: Weak and Strong Vowelsxe2x80x9d Phonetics Ixe2x80x94Autumn 2002 Course Outline by Petur Knutsson, xe2x80x9cTutoring For Mastery: Part 2xe2x80x94Writingxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cSimple Spelxe2x80x9dxe2x80x94a Newsletter of the simplified Spelling Society, Metalinguistic Transfer in Spanish/English Biliteracy by Jill Kerper Mora of San Diego State University, and xe2x80x9cAlfabet Reportxe2x80x9d each teach a method incorporating a variation of interpretation of vowel sounds to aid in the teaching of reading. Some of these methods also show an interpretation of xe2x80x9cstrongxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cweakxe2x80x9d vowel sounds. For example, xe2x80x9cWord Stress: Weak and Strong Vowelsxe2x80x9d Phonetics Ixe2x80x94Autumn 2002 Course Outline by Petur Knutsson and xe2x80x9cTutoring For Mastery: Part 2xe2x80x94Writingxe2x80x9d each use a variation of an interpretation of strong vowels occurring in stressed syllables and weak syllables occurring in unstressed syllables. On the other hand, Metalinguistic Transfer in Spanish/English Biliteracy by Jill Kerper Mora of San Diego State University shows a method that defines weak vowels as xe2x80x9ci, uxe2x80x9d and strong vowels as xe2x80x9ca, e, oxe2x80x9d.
Other prior art uses symbols, characters, or other indicators to represent vowel sounds. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,490,118 to Stewart uses a series of codes (e.g., V, CV, VC, CVC) to identify vowel and syllable patterns. U.S. Pat. No. 6,077,080 to Rai uses colors to represent root sounds of vowels or consonants, and symbols to represent various altering sounds depending upon the placement of the symbol in reference to the letter. U.S. Pat. No. 5,567,159 to Tehan uses unique colors and characteristics to differentiate different vowels and consonants. U.S. Pat. No. 4,655,713 to Weiss uses non-pictorial short-stroke symbols of various contrasts in color, intensity, and typestyle to represent the sound of letter combinations.
Two other prior art methods incorporate a word frame technique to focus the reader on components of the word when sounding it out. U.S. Pat. No. 5,197,883 to Mazeski, et al. incorporates an apparatus which allows the reader to focus on a word or letter group within a narrow lateral span, which gradually increases. Baton""s U.S. patent application Ser. No. 2002/0119429 incorporates a word frame to allow the reader to view words in isolation.
While these and other methods employ various visual tools to aid the reader in learning to read, they do not employ associative visual imagery to connote vowel-sounds. Specifically, they do not use strong and weak graphical images to represent long and short vowel sounds. This particular method, using the strong and weak boys as base imagery for the long and short vowel sounds, enables a student to overcome difficulties in reading and become a successful reader. The terms xe2x80x9clongxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cshortxe2x80x9d sounds have a meaningless connotation for children.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a reading teaching method and system which allows all children to read independently.
It is another object to provide a reading teaching method and system that uses decoding as a multi-sensory approach by specific auditory, tactile, and visual means.
It is another object to provide a reading teaching method and system that provides the reader with a visual and cognitive understanding.
It is another object to provide a reading teaching method and system that allows regular education and learning disabled children to successfully learn to read.
It is still another object to provide a reading teaching method and system that readers can easily relate to and understand.
These and other objects are accomplished by the present invention, which is a revolutionary method and system for teaching reading to children and adults, learning disabled and not, whereby each individual can become a successful reader. The teaching method employs the strong vowel represented by the graphic image of a character of a strong, muscular boy holding a barbell straight over his head, and the weak vowel represented by the graphic image of a smaller, weak, skinny boy holding a sagging barbell over his head. The straight barbell of the strong boy relates to the mark over the strong vowels and the sagging barbell of the weak boy relates to the scooped mark over the weak vowels. Students learn that each vowel has two names . . . a very strong name and a very weak name. For example, students are taught that when the letter a is strong, the strong boy says his own name ā as in āpe (the macron or short horizontal dash over the vowel denotes that the vowel is strong or xe2x80x9clongxe2x80x9d in the traditional sense). When the letter a is weak, the weak boy says {hacek over (a)}{hacek over (a)}{hacek over (a)} as in {hacek over (a)}{hacek over (a)}{hacek over (a)}pple (the breve or crescent over the vowel denotes that the vowel is weak or xe2x80x9cshortxe2x80x9d in the traditional sense). The students are taught graphic associations with the strong and weak boy. These strong and weak boy associations replace the traditional long and short vowel concept, which, without visualization, may be meaningless to a student learning to read, particularly if the student is learning disabled. These strong and weak boy models are associated with their strong and weak vowel counterparts to decode words.
More specifically, the method and system includes a lesson plan with specific topics scheduled over the course of the learning period, which is generally thirty-five weeks. First, the instructor teaches the consonants and their sounds and introduces the strong and weak characters. Second, the instructor teaches each of the weak vowels separately, devoting an entire week to each weak vowel sound . . . xe2x80x9caxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cexe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cixe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9coxe2x80x9d, and xe2x80x9cuxe2x80x9d. Next, the instructor will teach the strong vowel words beginning with the magic xe2x80x9cexe2x80x9d vowel words with each magic xe2x80x9cexe2x80x9d encompassing an entire week. The magic xe2x80x9cexe2x80x9d endings include a_e, i_e, o_e, and u_e. Students are taught that the magic xe2x80x9cexe2x80x9d at the end of the word gives all the power to the vowel, so the vowel is strong and says his own name. Finally, the instructor will teach vowel combinations and the concept of xe2x80x9cwhen two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking.xe2x80x9d These vowel combinations include ee, ea, oa, and ai. The xe2x80x9ctalkingxe2x80x9d means the vowel is strong and says his own strong name. For example, students are taught that in ai vowel combination, i gives all the power to a, so a says his own name ā! Each lesson includes a review of the prior lessons so that the progress is cumulative and by the end of the final lesson, the reader is usually ready to move on to more complex reading concepts.